Category Archives: Cemetery

The Ghost Town of Onominese

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Rows of white wooden crosses stand in a simple cemetery near Lake Michigan. The people laid to rest under them is all that remains of Onominese. A small Indian village named after the Indian Chief Onominese. ( also spelled Onominee) The town was about five miles north of Leland, in the Leelanau Peninsula on Lake Michigan. The people that lived there mostly traveled to the town by canoe as there were no roads that led to the village.

Reverend Smith traveled through crude forest trails almost every Sunday from Northport to conduct church services. A small schoolhouse was built after the Civil War ended in 1865. Beside bringing religion and education to the native Americans the white man brought an epidemic of smallpox and diphtheria that killed off most of the small village’s population. It is the white crosses of those that died which stand in the filed near Lake Michigan to tell the story of the small Indian village that once was.

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A Soldiers Final Resting Place

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When thinking of Memorial Day many people can recall an image from a national cemetery with row and rows of headstones and American flags placed alongside them. I have visited many old rural cemeteries and see some individual tombstones with the Stars and Stripes proudly waving in the breeze. They may not be laid to rest with their brothers and sisters in a large elaborate cemetery, but that does not mean that the sacrifice they made was insignificant or forgotten. Thank you to the people who honor the veterans by placing flags next to the graves. I notice them and am grateful for their sacrifices.

I saw this headstone and flag on a hill in the Old Bayport Cemetery where many of the residents of the Ora Labora Colony are laid to rest.  you can read about that HERE

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The Price of Freedom

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It is an awe-inspiring sight to see the row upon row of white headstones of the veterans laid to rest in the National Cemetery in Holly. I highly recommend visiting this beautiful place. It is a good reminder of the price of freedom and the sacrifices made to protect it.

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The White Tombstone

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On the outskirts of Saginaw in the back of Oakwood Cemetery is the veterans section with a Civil War Monument surrounded by tombstones of the veterans that so proudly served in the military. You will notice one marker is cleaner than the rest of the markers. I don’t know who Ross F. Huffman is other than what is written on his marker and that he served in the infantry during World War II. His marker is in a restored state and cleaned compared to the surrounding headstones. My friend worked at the cemetery, and he told me that one of Mr. Hoffman’s relatives was researching their genealogy and family heritage when they discovered they were related to Mr. Hoffman. While visiting the cemetery, they painstakingly scrubbed and cleaned the tombstone. It stands out among the other markers but they deserve to be honored and remembered.

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The Heroes in Pinery Cemetery

Posted on by Posted in Cemetery, upper peninsula .

A few miles northeast of L’Anse in the Upper Peninsula is the Pinery Indian Cemetery. The land has been used as a Native American burial ground since the 1600s. Many of the graves have spirit houses. They provide a place for loved ones to leave food, arrows, beads, and items needed for the deceased to travel to the spirit world.

I have been to the national cemeteries in Holly, Grand Rapids, and Port Huron and I have seen veterans sections in other cemeteries. I usually see American flags next to the headstones. It was inspiring to see an American flag next to the spirit houses. It is a reminder that people came from all walks of life and different backgrounds and religions to fight and defend freedom in this country.

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The Sculptures In The Cemetery

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I visit a lot of cemeteries while out doing research looking for forgotten places. Many time all that remains of an old lumbering town is the cemetery. When I drove through the Tyrone Memorial Gardens near Fenton I was struck by the beauty of the sculptures places around the tombstones. Most cemeteries have the standard statues and are similar since they probably purchased them from a monument supplier. I was mesmerized by the beauty and color of the statues that adorn the grounds.

I found out that they are no ordinary statues because they were created by artist and sculptor Robert St. Croix, He was raised in Michigan and graduated from Plymouth High School and Wayne State University. His mother is laid to rest in the cemetery and he was commissioned to create nine sculptures. The most notable is the sculpture of an angel holding up a golden urn towards the sky. It was created in the likeness of the artist’s mother.

Tyrone Memorial Gardens is also home to the Tyrone Sunken Gardens which you can read about in my post HERE

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The Strange Story of Wellington Burt’s Fortune

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In the back of Saginaw’s Forest Lawn Cemetary is a massive stone mausoleum where lumber baron and railroad tycoon Wellington R. Burt is entombed.  At the time of his death in 1919, he was the 8th wealthiest person in America and the second richest person in Michigan with Henry Ford holding that title.  He is the only one who knew why he had one of America’s strangest last wills. It had a “spite clause” where he stated his money was to be given out 21 years after the death of his last surviving grandchild who was alive at the time of his death. No one knows why he had such a strange request in his will.  He left money for some of his servants who had worked for him at his Mansion in downtown Saginaw.  He must have really hated his family. Burt’s last grandchild, Marion Lansill died in November of 1989. 21 years later his trust, valued approximately a 100 million dollars, was split between 12 descendants in 2010.

There is a lot more to this story. I was going to write about it in my latest book, but I decided to wait until volume 3. I hope you will get a copy of one of my books. I have lots of interesting and strange stories from around Michigan.  You can order your copy HERE

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Secret At The Cliff Cemetery

Posted on by Posted in Cemetery, upper peninsula .

North of the little town of Mohawk in the Keweenaw on US-41 is a sign for the Cliff Cemetery. Driving past the sign you don’t see a cemetery, but it is there hidden in the woods. After hiking about 50 yards into the forest you see tombstones among the trees. The ground is covered by green leafy plants which I think is wintergreen. Paths through the thick growth wind through the old cemetery to the various graves sites.

In the back of the cemetery is an old stone foundation left over from the chapel that once stood in the old cemetery.  The cemetery is from the town of Cliff which sprang up when copper was mined from the nearby cliff. After the mine closed the town’s population dwindled away to nothing but the deceased citizens.  I am not sure if it’s accurate, but I was told the church that stood in the cemetery was moved to the town of Pheonix and is the church HERE. How the wintergreen took over the old cemetery remains a secret that it’s residents are not willing to tell.

P.S. The Cemetery off US-41 is the Catholic cemetery.  There is another cemetery on Cliff Drive. I was not able to explore that one since water covered the entrance and it was too deep for my jeep to cross it.

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The Historic and Haunted Mouth Cemetery

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Near the mouth of the White River not far from Montague is an old cemetery. The cemetery name comes from the fact that it is near the mouth of the river. The oldest known burial in the cemetery dates back to 1851, but there are unmarked graves that date back even further. It’s said that an Indian village existed at the mouth of the river a long time ago. An attack by an enemy tribe killed off most of the villagers and some of their remains lay buried in the old cemetery.

People have claimed to hear footsteps following them around the cemetery and when they turn around to see who it would be there is nobody there. Others say that strange mists and screams come from the surrounding woods. It is an old cemetery and one of the most famous residents is William Robinson. the former White River lighthouse keeper who is said to haunt the old lighthouse not far from the cemetery.  you can read my post about it HERE 

There is also an urban legend about a young man who sat in a chair that existed in the old cemetery. It was exactly one year after he sat in the chair that he died in a car accident.  It was said that many people came to the cemetery to sit in the infamous chair but it has been removed.

When I visited nothing strange happened. It was a little overgrown, but a beautiful old cemetery. I did notice a rather unique looking headstone in the back with face masks of the husband and wife to mark their final resting place.

If you visit, please be respectful so that it will remain open to visitors.

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The Lost Colony of Ora Labora

Posted on by Posted in Cemetery, Forgotten Places, Ghost towns .

Northeast of Bayport at the end of Sand Road is the Old Bayport Cemetery, It sits on a hill with large trees standing between the tombstones and monuments. I imagine when the cemetery was created over 150 years ago the trees were just little saplings. The old cemetery is the final resting place for some of the people of the Ora Labora colony.

The colony was formed in 1862 when Rev, Emil Baur purchased 740 acres on Wild Fowl Bay. For $25 members could join the colony named Ora Labora after the Latin phrase “ora et labora” which means pray and work. The colony started out with about 140 members and grew to about 280. Although the members were honest hard working people most were unskilled at farming, lumbering and construction. For instance, after purchasing cows and cattle they roamed away since they did not know they needed fences. After building a 300-foot long dock into Saginaw Bay one summer the ice in the winter destroyed the dock.

Some of the members became ill and a little girl was the first one to die in 1862 which incidentally was when the cemetery was established. During the Civil War, many of the male members joined the Michigan Militia to fight in the war. After the war, most of them did not return to the colony. After incurring massive debt for supplies they purchased and they were down to about 12 members left the colony disbanded in 1867 and the remaining property was divided up amongst remaining people.

The great fire of 1871 obliterated what was left of the colony and all the remains are the stone markers on the hill and the end of Sand Road.

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